Getting up to speed

What a pleasure it is being out here on the big blue. Our tight schedule
demands that we keep going as fast as conditions and safety will allow.
Yesterday we still had the wind on our beam from the SW. Main sail 1st
reef and full genoa kept our pace above 7 kts, and at about 4pm I
decided to take in a reef on the mainsail. The wind was building and
backing ever so slowly towards the south, making it increasingly
difficult to create speed with our sails. At about midnight we decided
to drop the main as we were now sitting on a 130* angle to the wind from
behind. We could turn a bit more west, but our grib weather files
clearly showed a mid-Atlantic high, sitting smack bang on a direct route
to the top of Brazil. With a full genoa and motoring we maintained 7
kts. Apparent wind speed stayed between 15 and 20 kts, and heading a bit
more north the current also favoured us. Our aim is to sail around the
mid- Atlantic high, which is an area of very light winds which moves up
and down as the seasons dictate.

We are aiming for a point between St.Helena and Ascension Island and the
wind settled this morning in a south easterly direction. The initial
shift started with a light 9 to 14 kts which tempted us to set up our
genikar, a light wind super sail. I did not feel comfortable yet and
will never just throw caution to the wind. Our weather data also clearly
showed 20 red coming through and I decided to rather rig our loose
headsail in conjunction with our genoa. We had to keep on motoring, but
an hour later the predicted stronger winds came through. The genikar is
good for up to 17 kts, and it also prefers fair winds and following
seas. The swell follows the wind but it does take some time to settle. I
was glad we did not set up the genikar, as we would have been in a bit
of trouble with the wind gusting at 25 kts at times. It is still early
in the trip and to blow the genikar so early would certainly not make
for a happy ending. We are now doing a pleasant 8 kts and should be able
to keep up our speed with our current sail setting till tomorrow
morning. The wind is then predicted to drop to 15 kts which will be
perfect for the genikar as the swell would by then also have lined up
with the south easterly winds.

Last night I cooked our first proper meal on board, pasta shells
and mince, with a bit of this and a bit of that to add some flavour.
Very nice for the next day as well. My watch started from midnight to
3am, and once again I was mesmerized by the glittering night skies out
here. All the flickering little stars sending their message of love and
life into infinity. The grande constellations slowly moving through the
air. Being new moon or dark moon amplified the spectacular beauty
above and around us. Stardust........all of us. Planet Earth is not
turning around and around as we have been taught, but moving in a spiral
in harmony with all the other planets and stars. Slowly moving back
towards the centre of the Milky Way. The 21/12/2012 Mayan day marked the
point where we have moved the furtherest from the centre, and we are now
on our way back. In the same fashion we as a human race are also moving
back to what and who we really are.

It was fun on my watch to see a faint light in the distance, power up
the radar, and spot a ship moving straight at us from 12nm away. I
altered course 10* to starboard and watched as the ship slowly moved by
on our port side and turned 10* to port again. This morning there were
streaks of brown in the water, and on closer observation saw krill and
jellyfish floating on the current. The skies are blue at the moment, and
we are leaving long white lines in our wake, surfing down the swells at
speed. Our GoPro camera is also capturing these special moments, but it
will be quite a while before we can post them on the blog. We are
looking at going non-stop for Panama, and should we make a quick stop on
the way, it will be just that, a very quick stop.

Our current position is 29*03'S/17*34'E at 13h00 SA time. We are about
200nm west from the Orange River mouth which forms the border between
South Africa and Namibia. We are about 3 days out of Cape Town and have
covered over 500nm which gives us an average of +- 7 kts. There were some
quiet spells but we are now up to speed. Catamarans are like that. They
can sail fast. One of their many advantages. One stays with the good
weather longer and easier to outrun bad weather. Much more about this in
future postings.

I hope your week ahead will be filled with wonderful moments.

Paul